It’s just about become a standard annual practice for me to try to bring a bit of attention to the good games that will probably get passed over because they came out in the middle of October and November where they didn’t belong.

Strangely enough, I see quite a few titles this fall that are definitely niche, but will probably still reach their core audiences and shouldn’t be considered in danger. Games like Disgaea 4 , Persona 2, and Red Orchestra 2 are likely to swiftly dodge the onslaught of Gears 3 or Battlefield 3 due to lack of consumer conflict.

One game with which I will take exception however is Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny. Another year, another Rune Factory game coming out practically on top of the big shooter. I know there’s not much audience overlap between Harvest Moon and shooters but damnit I’m part of that audience overlap. I think this will be like the fifth RF game that I won’t get to play. I’ll have to do a massive LTTP on the franchise one day.

The “biggest” game that I hope get’s its due attention this fall is a PSN/PC Sony Online Entertainment title called Payday: The Heist. Basically, it’s a cross between Left 4 Dead and The Town. Teams of four case a bank and then try to rob it, negotiating with security systems, hostages, and SWAT teams. Makes you wonder why heist games have never really been done before (that I know of).

Looking through this fall’s full release list though has revealed a couple titles that have blown my mind a little bit. One of them is – you might wanna sit down for this, a DSiWare port of ClayFighter 63½. No really. Now what I hope has happened is that 3DS owners are taking enough notice of the eShop to give DSiWare games at least a bit of attention. The problem with it isn’t the platform or the games, it just goes on totally unknown.

Also on the DS (yes the DS) is a game I heard a lot of intriguing stuff about earlier this year: Solatorobo: the Red Hunter. The quick story of what I know about it is that it’s a sequel to a PS1 action adventure game called Tail Concerto that had a lot in common with Mega Man Legends. That information and the art direction of this game alone make it something that I would at least want to rent if I had the time.

Yeah the dangerously obscure factor this year seems to be centered on handhelds. The last game I wanna talk about is the 3DS Shinobi game. If I were still a hard-line Nintendo fanboy who’d just gotten his 3DS and didn’t own every platform I’d probably be all over this game. Now I’m just intrigued at the idea of another 2D Shinobi and patiently await reviews.

Even though there are still games coming out in the holiday season that have no chance of getting seen among the Blockbusters, I think we’ve ascended at least a half-step from that. At least now some of these games have stopped trying to get in on Call of Duty’s audience and just focused on their own. That said, some are still likely to slip through the cracks.

BULLETS:

I guess I’m a pretty unique case regarding GameStop’s controversy with Deus Ex Human Revolution. I bought the retail PC version from GameStop because I happened to have a $50 gift card, and got the OnLive code (don’t know if I’ll ever need it). Still, unfortunately the store I got it from wasn’t selling the augmented edition for PC. I was also the sole person who pre-ordered the PC version at that store.

Regarding them finally deciding to pull the game, it was kinda useless to just remove the OnLive cards because by selling a Steamworks game, they were already selling Steam installs to their PC customers – however many are left. I hope they don’t pull that crap with Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3 – both Steamworks games on PC.

Comments (4)

I actually haven't heard of most of these...

I guess I'm not part of that niche market you're talking about! That being said, my focus for this fall is a tripod of my most anticipated games: Arkham City, Skyrim, and Uncharted 3. I'll be picking up the Ico/SotC collection day one as well (luckily it comes out about a month before these other big titles hit) and Resident Evil 4 HD is a must. Other than those titles, if I have the time and cash for something, I will get it; if not, oh well.

Those covers

I noticed a couple of days agos that Kotaku mentioned those covers you all been doing and they displayed one of yours on there. That is cool. Those are some incredible covers. I love many of them. One of my favorite ones is the Red Dead Redemption one by brandonh83.

Payday: The Heist. I am getting that game. I want it but don't really care to get Bloodrayne but will get it since it will be the cheaper way to get The Heist and I really look forward to and hope that Renegade Ops is really good.